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Saturday, January 30, 2016

When I woke up on race morning I envisioned my friends silently cursing me for reassuring them that the "weather is going to be great!" It actually was great running weather (I'll take cold and windy over hot and humid any day) but when I stepped outside and the wind cut through my bones like a serrated kitchen knife I wasn't very happy.

I was up by 2:30am and out the door by 3:45am because my Type A personality, combined with my inherent lack of patience, doesn't do well with life's greatest challenges... like trying to find parking in Miami on race day. I got to the American Airlines Arena parking garage with over an hour to spare so I hung out with Diane and Johnny until it was time to start the journey to the corrals. On the way to Corral I (my placement this year) I noticed there wasn't a crowd by the porta potties and took advantage of another benefit of arriving early. It wasn't until after (once I'd resumed my journey) that I saw the mile long line on the other side of the designated portable bathroom area. I felt really bad about skipping so many people cause I personally get annoyed when others do it to me (so if you were in that line please accept this blog confession/deeply sincere apology).

Thursday, January 28, 2016

When I woke up on Friday morning I wondered if the 2016 Miami Half Marathon weekend was going to be able to compete with last year's event. I mean, how many times can you "redefine amazing" right? It's probably not even fair to compare events from one year to another because so much can happen over the course of 12 months. But (fair or not) I did the comparison anyway and I can safely say that history repeated itself in amazing and incredible ways.

As promised, I tried to post regular updates to my Instagram accountbut I know I didn't capture all the great things that happened during the race weekend. So I decided to do a two-part race recap: one dedicated to all the pre-race activities and another post dedicated to race day.

After spending Friday morning contemplating what the weekend was going to be like, I took care of some stuff around the house and later did some cardio. I hadn't worked out all of last week so the cardio on Friday felt great and my legs (especially my quads) felt really strong. I didn't want to overdo it though so I resisted the temptation for a lot more cross training and spent the rest of the day carb loading and resting.

On Saturday morning, in my attempt to avoid issues with parking, I decided to go to the expo early. I actually got there before the expo opened so I enjoyed the wall art while I waited...

Friday, January 22, 2016

I haven't posted all week mainly because I haven't done anything all week. I decided to take the week off to rest my knee as much as possible. But I wanted to check in so you know I haven't given up on running...

I follow @monitorthebeat on Instagram because they always post great motivational stuff.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

I'm pretty transparent when it comes to how I'm feeling about things. Not just about running and training, but about life in general. I'm a "wear my emotions on my sleeve" kind of person. Some people would say that I'm "pessimistic" (or any other synonym that comes to mind). But I like to think of myself as being realistic, objective and authentic; i.e. "What you see is what you get" and I'm pretty unapologetic about that.

With that in mind, I wanted to start the post with the warning and disclaimer above because I'm having some doubts about my running and training. This post isn't meant to be a negative venting session, but rather a reflection on the emotions I'm struggling with right now. I know a lot of runners struggle with their training from time to time, and many of the bloggers I follow discuss their struggles on their post. I also know I've talked about my own struggles on previous posts. This one will be no different, except for the fact that I gave the warning in the beginning. The post will end on a somewhat positive note though so you can either stick around and read through it all or skip ahead to the end (it's up to you).

Friday, January 15, 2016

I was able to complete another two mile swim this morning! I'm excited because: #1 I went to bed late so I woke up feeling exhausted; #2 I wasn't sure if I would be able to get the 2 miles done; #3 My Garmin was acting crazy and didn't pick up all of my laps (so frustrating!). Anyway I decided to swim until the Garmin registered my goal distance...

My pace started off slow but after the first mile I picked it up a bit...

Thursday, January 14, 2016

So apparently there was some mix up with the Power ball cause my winning numbers were not picked (so weird right?). Anyway, while I wait for them to resolve the issue and anonymously send me billions of dollars I decided to continue to go to work (you know, so I fill my days with something meaningful).

Before my 8 meaningful work hours I decided to run 8 meaningful miles...

I'm using the term "run" loosely because I was really dragging my feet the entire way. I tried to pick up the pace towards the end, but it was just destined to be a slow run...

Monday, January 11, 2016

(not directly of course, but sometimes the Milepost quotes feel like they're written specifically for me)

"Don't try to rush progress..."
How many of us are guilty of this? I know I am. ALL the time. I get frustrated when I'm trying to get faster (ignore the title of my blog when you read that), or trying to run longer. I want to see the progress as soon as I lace up my shoes and head out the door, not always appreciating that it can't be rushed... shouldn't be rushed. Rushing causes complications: it can cause injuries, which can lead to frustration and inevitably can stop the very progress you were trying to rush in the first place. So (taking Kara's advice) try not to "rush" forward; just take one small step at a time.

"... a step in the right direction..."
Small steps (through manageable training plans) help you reach your ultimate goal safely. The best plans allow you to build up to your goal so you don't take on too much too soon. I had a hard time learning this lesson and ended up spending a lot of time and money on physical therapy. Now, as difficult as it is, I'm trying to listen to my body and not take giant steps toward my marathon goals... just small steps forward in the right direction.

Friday, January 8, 2016

I finally found the trick to preventing my goggles from fogging up (read all about it here) and my lovely fog-free goggles helped me complete an incredible 2 MILE swim this morning...

(New Swimming Records: #1 my longest swim; #2 my fastest swim)

I'm so happy! There was a moment (actually more than a brief period of time) at the beginning when I contemplated stopping. But I stuck with it and I'm really glad I didn't give up or give in to my looming fears.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

So yesterday morning, in a moment of brilliance, I clicked the "run" icon on my Garmin instead of the "swim" icon, as I dove into the pool. And by "dove" I mean gingerly lowered my body into the frigid pool water. And by "frigid" I really mean lukewarm (but for me if it's not HOT water then it's cold water). I didn't realize my mistake until 0.23 miles into the swim when I looked at the watch and discovered the distance was being tracked in miles and not meters.

I decided not to adjust it because I was worried I would lose the data for the distance I had already completed (although in hindsight I really could have just saved it and started a new session). Anyway, at the end of the 1.5 mile swim (yes one and a half miles; and yes it took forever) I eventually saved the session. When I got home I spent several minutes trying to convert the session from running to swimming, and the distance from miles to meters, on the Garmin Connect website. It worked for the former but not for the latter so my OCD went into overdrive...

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

I'm going to aim for more cardio before and after strength training; and longer reps or increased sets for the weights (I only do light weights so increasing the reps and sets will be ok).

In addition to doing more cardio and weights in the gym, I'm trying to improve my swimming endurance in preparation for the April Swim Miami event. I went into the open water swim less than 100% prepared last year, and I want to avoid making some of the same mistakes this year. So I've been doing research to help me perfect my freestyle stroke...